Page 4822 - Week 15 - Thursday, 8 December 1994
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It is particularly important, in my view, that the ACT retain compulsory voting with our relatively complex Hare-Clark electoral system. If voluntary voting were introduced, many voters could decide that it was all too difficult, leaving the selection of members of the Assembly in the hands of a minority. I note also, Madam Speaker, that Mrs Carnell singled out compulsory voting as a key reason why citizens-initiated referendums could have credibility in the ACT. Should CIR ever be introduced in the ACT, this would be another reason for retaining and, indeed, entrenching compulsory voting. For these reasons, the Government considers that our system of compulsory voting should not be changed without a clear mandate from the voters.
Madam Speaker, I have discussed with Mr Humphries what is meant by compulsory voting. Mr Humphries expressed to me some concern that compulsory voting may mean, for instance, that children would have to vote and so on. I want to make it very clear that by "compulsory voting", as set out in my amendment, I mean compulsory voting in the ordinary course of an election conducted in the ACT. Voting in an election - whether it is for the Federal Parliament or for the ACT Assembly - ought to be compulsory, with the normal exemptions that have applied in previous elections. Those exemptions are very few. Madam Speaker, I believe that it is worth while ensuring that that principle of compulsory voting is retained.
There is another amendment that I wish to make to Mr Humphries's Bill, and that is to fix the number of MLAs at 17. Madam Speaker, the Government is proposing that the Bill be amended to ensure that a future Assembly cannot change the number of elected members to the Assembly, again, without seeking the approval of a majority of voters or a two-thirds majority of the Assembly. At present, I should point out, the Commonwealth Parliament has not given the ACT Legislative Assembly the power to legislate to change the number of members of the Assembly. However, it is possible that the Assembly will be given this power in the future. It is the Government's strongly held view that the current size of the Assembly, at 17 members, has clearly proved to be adequate for the Territory's needs. While the ACT does have fewer elected representatives than any other State or Territory, I believe that six years of self-government has shown that this relatively modest number of members can be made to work effectively. Rather than our Assembly growing, I believe that probably every other parliament in the country should shrink considerably.
I note also, Madam Speaker, that the model proportional representation Hare-Clark system, set out in the 1992 referendum options description sheet, specified that the ACT would have 17 members; yet, inexplicably, Mr Humphries chose to leave that out of his Bill. Indeed, Mr Humphries is on the public record as favouring an Assembly of 21 members. In his submission to the Commonwealth parliamentary inquiry into the 1989 ACT election, Mr Humphries, who was styled at the time "Gary J.J. Humphries, Immediate Past President, Deputy Leader of the ACT Opposition", said:
The ACT Liberal Party favours the creation of three electorates of seven members each.
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